


The Last of a Dying Breed

by starklyman



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Just a little bit of Angst, Songfic, mostly fluff i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 02:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16609856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starklyman/pseuds/starklyman
Summary: The Doctor can no longer deny that Clara Oswald has become his entire universe





	The Last of a Dying Breed

**Author's Note:**

> Because The Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy is just so them.

_I was just an only child of the universe_  
_Until I found you, until I found you_

 

He finds, one day, that she has inserted herself into every aspect of his life. Workbooks and Year 8 essays litter the tables in the library. Her favorite tea fills the kitchen cupboards, her sweaters and skirts lay haphazardly over chairs and on the floor of his (their) bedroom. The thing is that he doesn’t notice until he notices.

 

They’re curled up together on the recliner in his room, Clara having taken it upon herself to pluck the book he was reading out of his hands and deposit herself in his lap for a good cuddle and, if she was lucky, a nap. Her back was against one of the armrests, head on the Doctor’s shoulder with one hand curled around his neck playing with hairs at his nape and the other under his t shirt resting on the skin of his chest, double heartbeats soothing under her fingers.

 

“Clara?” He mumbles into her hair and he receives a drowsy hum in response. “Do we... live together?”

 

This makes her perk up, head lifting from his shoulder to properly look at him.

 

“What?”

 

“Do we live together? It’s just your stuff is all here, but I still drop you off at home sometimes and it’s all just... very confusing.”

 

His eyes are wide and questioning and he looks so uncertain and adorable that Clara can’t help but press a kiss to his lips.

 

“Is that okay with you? Me moving in?”

 

He avoids her eyes, looking at the ground until she grips his jaw, forces him to look at her.

 

“Yes,” he answers finally. “I- it’s more than okay. Welcome, actually.”

 

She smiles softly at him, the hand that was gripping his jaw moving to press against his cheek. Moving into the TARDIS full time at this point would be hardly any change from their current situation. Half her wardrobe was scattered throughout the TARDIS, markings that were at least a month and a half old, and she can’t even remember how long it’s been since they last stopped by her flat. She’ll have to figure things out, what she’ll do about her job, her flat, her family and friends, but at the moment she doesn’t particularly care about any of that because his hair is soft beneath her fingertips and the soft, contented sounds he’s making under her ministrations send warmth straight through her.

 

It’s domestic, but looking around he knows that he’s far past the point of caring. He finds, instead, that he’s glad for it, has come to crave it, actually. Has come to crave Clara Oswald. She has made herself essential to him and he can’t even find it in himself to be scared about that fact.

 

_You are the sun and I am just the planets_  
_Spinning around you, spinning around you_

 

He forgets, sometimes, the amount of sleep that humans need to function. So used to just going, going, going and never pausing to take a break that he forgets Clara needs one. It’s not until one time that she collapses into his arms from pure exhaustion that he realizes she hadn’t slept a wink in over 48 hours. He’s been careful about it since then and even more careful about it now.

 

They’d just returned from a jaunt to one of the Doctor’s favorite markets, him needing parts for TARDIS repairs and her just wanting to look around. Bartering and finding all the parts he’d needed had taken longer than expected and arriving back in the console room the Doctor could see that Clara was nearly dead on her feet.

 

“I think it’s nap time for someone,” He says, smirking at the way she frowns and scrunches her nose at him.

 

“I’m perfectly fine, I don’t need a nap.”

 

He sighs, coming up to her and encircling his arms around her waist. She stubbornly won’t look at him and he puts a finger under her chin, tilting her head up.

 

“Clara. You’re knackered. I can always tell so there’s no use trying to hide it.”

 

Her shoulders drop in defeat and she leans toward him, head resting against his chest.

 

“Fine,” she mumbles against his shirt. “But only for a few hours. I’m tired of sleeping all the time.”

 

He chuckles, dropping a swift kiss to the top of her head and leading her down the hallway.

 

She strips the whole way, dropping her coat and sweater on the floor, trusting the TARDIS to take care of it. By the time they reach their bed she’s in her underwear and bra, a hand reaching out, demanding. He rolls his eyes, but acquiesces nonetheless, taking his own layers off and handing her his (and her) favorite holey jumper.

 

She settles into bed, curling on her side, his jumper stretched over her significant bump. The smile that overcomes his face is one that he can’t control and his hearts feel close to bursting. He kicks off his boots and drops down next to her, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck, one arm supporting her head and the other resting protectively over her growing stomach.

 

“It is to be expected, you know. This is normal.”

 

She hums. “I know, it’s just annoying sometimes. I feel like I’m holding you back.”

 

“Oh my Clara. You and the little one inside you are the only things I care about. If that means more rest and less traveling then so be it.”

 

She’s half asleep by this point, but manages to mumble “I love you,” before falling asleep completely. He closes his eyes himself, reveling in her warmth.

 

He wakes up an hour later and Clara has shifted, now facing him with her head tucked under his chin and her hands clutching his t shirt. Their legs are tangled and he inhales the intoxicating scent of her. In that moment he knows that he will never need anything more than this.

 

_I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you_  
_But not as much as I do, as much as I do_

 

It was stupid, reckless, dangerous, a million other adjectives that were running through the Doctor’s brain right now. She’d traded herself. Took the place of a hostage with a gun held to their temple. She made him dangerous, made him cruel. All because they pressed a gun to her head.

 

They’re both silent once back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor violently flipping levers, twisting knobs.

 

She sighs and then, “You gonna say something or you just gonna keep taking it out on the TARDIS?”

 

He whirls around, eyebrows in perfect attack position, his most impressive glare on his face. “That was stupid. That was stupid and irresponsible.”

 

She rolls her eyes and, if possible, it makes him even angrier.

 

“Don’t. Don’t you dare try and say I’m overreacting.”

 

“Well, you are!” She bursts out, finally. “God, Doctor, we do this all the time. You do this all the time. I’m not fragile. You don’t need to protect me all the time.”

 

“I have a duty-“

 

“Oh, screw your duty of care, they needed me.”

 

“I NEED YOU!”

 

Silence. Just the hum of the TARDIS in the background. She doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to react to his outburst.

 

“Doctor-“

 

He’s there, suddenly, in front of her, hands gripping her upper arms, icy blue eyes staring intently into her own.

 

“You have made yourself essential to me, Clara Oswald. I cannot live without you. If something were to happen to you I would-“

 

He shudders, head down, not letting himself see the damage of his confession.

 

After a minute she tilts his head up, makes him look at her.

 

“I’m sorry. Really, I am. But I’m right here, you daft old man. I’m ok.” She brings his head forward so that its resting against her chest.

 

“You won’t always be.” He says it quietly, but loud enough for her to hear and she tugs his hair, sharply.

“Stop. Stop that right now. You have me, Doctor. All of me.”

 

He sighs, relaxes against her chest and wraps his arms around her.

 

“Don’t leave me. Please, don’t ever leave me.” A whisper, a plea to both her and the universe.

 

“I won’t. Never.” It’s a lie. They both know it and they both decide, for the time being, to ignore it.

 

_I was a collapsing star with tunnel vision_  
_But only for you, but only for you_

 

She asked him after Skaro, after he’s done comforting her and she’s done berating him for not coming to her, if he really could see her in that whole crowd. If it wasn’t just a trick. He shrugged the question off then.

 

She asks him again now, weeks later, his head in her lap, hand running through his curls. How? How did you do it? He doesn’t respond for a while. How can he? How does he tell this woman, this magnificent, impossible woman, that she’s all he ever sees? That no galaxy in the entire universe even comes close to the beauty he sees within her eyes? That he fears for the fate of the universe should he ever lose her? He doesn’t think he can, but he tries his best.

 

“It’s you, Clara. You’re on my mind one hundred percent of the time, your voice is in my head. You’re imprinted on my hearts. I couldn’t lose you in a crowd if I tried.”

 

He opens his eyes, having closed them to avoid embarrassment, to see that her face is mere inches above his, her eyes slightly wet.

 

“You can’t do that, Doctor. You can’t just say things like that unless you mean them.”

 

“Who ever told you I didn’t mean them?” He whispers and as soon as the words leave his mouth she’s kissing him, frantically, desperately.

 

Later, when they’re in bed, clothes scattered around the room, she’s on top of him, kissing up his chest. Her touches are gentle, loving, and he feels himself about to drift off.

 

“I love you. I love you more than anything in this entire universe, I need you to know that.”

 

He strokes a hand through her hair, down her back, tugs her closer.

 

“I know, Clara. The universe pales in comparison to you.”


End file.
